Kitsune Gaiden
by Middle-Eight-Bridge
Summary: Almost two years after the brief time-skip at the end of Inuyasha, the gang finds themselves wrapped in another, hopefully quick, journey. But naturally, things don't turn out to be that simple. A few new faces, and romance in later chapters BUT I'm not going to touch any ships like Inuyasha/Kagome or Miroku/Sango since they're already married and my OCs are teenyboppers anyway.
1. Sanae

_Author's Note: I wrote this a long, long time ago. I recently dug up the files and realized, even though the writing sucks, I might just have a nice, long story to tell._

_Disclaimer: I don't know own Inuyasha, or any Inuyasha characters. I do, however, own Sanae and a few others I have yet to introduce. _

* * *

Kagome finished her homework early. Looking out her bedroom window, she saw Inuyasha burst out of the Bone Eater's well. In a flash, he was on the windowsill a few inches from her face.

"Are you _done_ yet?"

But at this point, nothing really startled Kagome anymore.

"Let's go!''

Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back before he jumped off the windowsill.

"_Finally_, I thought you would never finish!''

"Excuse me for wanting to pass my sophomore year of college!"

College allowed for a more flexible schedule now that high school was over.

"You know that means nothing to me."

He carried her to the shrine so not to waste anymore time.

"At least I know I'm smarter than you."

"Shut up!"

The end of the well appeared and Kagome gripped the sides, now in the Sengoku era of Japan.

"The others are in Kaede's village, come on!"

She could tell he wanted to sprint, but the hanyo settled for a fast-paced walk. Kaede's village appeared over the grassy hill. There were only six houses scattered throughout the village, but they were far from the quiet, as they were four years ago. One house was shared by Kaede and Rin, and one share by Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango and Miroku were raising three children in their own house, with Kohaku living next door when he occasionally stopped by. This would be one of those times.

"The others are at Sango and Miroku's."

He started to run down the hill and entered the village with Kagome a little ways behind. Shippo stepped out of the said house, spotting the two.

"Hey, over here! Inuyasha! Kagome!''

"Hey!" Kagome called after.

Soon after, Sango came out to greet them as well. By the look on her face, she seemed to have something important to say.

"We, uh, have a guest…"

"A guest?"

Sango ushered them to follow her inside.

"This is Sanae, she's a kistune like Shippo. We found her washed up by the river, barely conscious," she explained.

Shippo popped back in.

"Actually, she's only half kitsune," he corrected, although it was obvious he felt a kindred spirit for the young girl by the smile on his face.

Sanae was quiet to say the least, lying in her blankets. She seemed half-conscious as the others spoke.

"When did this happen?" Kagome asked.

"This is the first time I'm seeing her too, so it must have just happened," Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"A few hours ago, yes; she passed out soon after we found her, but she seems to be stirring quite a bit now," Miroku was cradling his youngest daughter.

Sanae appeared to be Rin's age, and took after her demon side strongly. She could easily be mistaken for a full-blooded yokai with her slender, pointed ears, digitgrade fox feet, and three plumy tails. The young girl slowly opened her eyes, revealing slit lilac eyes under silver lashes.

"Sanae?" Kagome called.

Her eyes shot open at Kagome's voice, looking around to see the gang (plus three toddlers).

"Where is she?!" her own voice very hoarse.

"Who?" Sango was the first to respond.

"I was with a marten demon, right?! She used me!" she struggled to get out of her blankets.

"Calm down, you just woke up," Kagome gently pushed Sanae's shoulders back down.

"We found you on the riverbed, completely alone," Miroku chimed.

That struck a nerve.

"She… she…"

"What happened to you?" Inuyasha finally asked.

"I was travelling with a marten… I've known her for the past thirty years. We were searching for a blacksmith to forge us our own weapons as a rite of passage. I knew the way better than she did… Just when we thought we were getting close, she set me up… and apparently left me for dead. I'm surprised I didn't drown."

Inuyasha almost wished he hadn't asked, having known the same nightmare of broken trust.

"I'll kill her."

"Better to just move on, do you need an escort to this blacksmith?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha glared daggers into his wife for what he thought she was suggesting.

"I'm probably better off working alone now," Sanae said calmly while slowly standing up.

"Even so, you're still young."

"Not _that_ young. Remember Rin went to rejoin Sesshomaru a few months ago," Inuyasha butted in.

"Temporarily, Inuyasha. There's been a lot of war battle going on in the area. He's just making sure she's safe until the tensions blow over. Rin is barely thirteen."

He scoffed and Kagome turned back to Sanae.

"How far away is it?"

"It's the village southwest of here."

"I already know where this is going," Inuyasha growled, "I'll notify Kaede and Kohaku."

With that, he stepped out.

Sango coddled her toddlers, telling them they were sleeping over Uncle Kohaku's tonight. They seemed pretty happy about that, they didn't get to see their uncle much.

* * *

"Right, let's go," Inuyasha urged as he stepped back in, Kilala in tow.

"But she just—"

"She's a half demon! Hell, she looks more than half. She'll be fine, Kagome."

"He's right, I'm feeling better already," Sanae insisted.

Walking into the outskirts of the village, the gang was ready for their first time travelling together since their days hunting Naraku.

"Let's make this quick so we don't run into trouble," Sango gave Kilala the go-ahead to transform.

She, Miroku, and Kagome climbed on. Inuyasha remained on the ground, Shippo attached to his shoulder as if nearly five years hadn't passed since they all last travelled together. Sanae probably didn't need more than one escort, but things were a little more dangerous these days due to war creeping closer, and there was safety in numbers. That was Kagome's thinking, anyway.

Inuyasha sprinted with his immense speed, but as always Kilala had no problems keeping up. Sanae, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Every so often the ones ahead would intentionally slow down, but after about eight times of this Inuyasha had had enough.

"Come on, catch up!''

Sanae panted, her dark blue and turquoise kimono flapping behind her, she moved similar to Inuyasha, never quite lady-like, but nonetheless at a slower pace.

"It's not easy keeping up with you!"

Kilala shakes her head and hisses, Sango patting her on the head.

"She can't carry any more people, Inuyasha."

"Fine."

Inuyasha kneeled onto one knee, leaning down and looking over his back to the other hanyo.

"Get on."

Sanae hesitated a little, having a fair amount of pride within her as Inuyasha.

"Hurry up, we're wasting time!"

She awkwardly climbed onto his back, her kitsune feet dangling. Moving her head to the side Shippo wasn't on, she started catch her breath and tried to get used to relying so heavily on someone she just met, and after what she had just gone through.

* * *

_Author's Comment: I'm a little nervous about where this is all going, but expect an update soon (since the first draft of every chapter is already typed up). _

_Style: You'll see a mix of two styles here, the way I wrote at thirteen and the way I write now, trying to spruce it up. Still, my thirteen-year-old self is driving the plot, so the majority will seem different from other works I have published. It's a lot more play-like with a focus on dialogue (and the tense moves all over the place because I was an idiot back then) sooo please by patient! This also isn't as serious as my other works. _

_Warning: I don't remember much of what happens in this story I wrote, so the rating may slide around a bit. I'm taking this chapter-by-chapter. I'll also have to apologize about any inconsistencies that might pop up. I'm catching the plot-holes as I see them, but I might not find all of them. _


	2. The Southwesterly Village

_Author's Note: Sorry this one's a little short, I had to cut a lot of senseless bickering I originally had in this chapter... and this is also the first part of what was originally chapter three. It was just a really, really short chapter._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Inuyasha characters. I do, however, own Sanae. _

* * *

"We're here!"

Sango, Miroku, and Kagome dismounted Kilala, Sanae sliding off Inuyasha's back and leading them to the village entrance. The people along the streets seemed afraid of the group. Inuyasha, Sanae, Shippo, and Kilala weren't exactly human to begin with, and then there was Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga, Sango's Hiraikotsu, and Kagome's bow and arrows. Mothers called their children inside and closed the doors.

"What's _their_ problem?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"If you haven't noticed, we're a bit _odd_. They probably think we're going to raid them,'' Sanae answered.

"I know you're used to our home village, but you're half-demon, remember?" Kagome spoke up.

Inuyasha mumbled something about humans, and it was obvious Kagome considered giving him a piece of her mind. Sanae was surprised by this, her own young prejudice against humans not strong enough to voice in front of those who helped her, but generally not having been tampered with.

"We're obviously not welcome here, so let's do this and get out," Sango cut in, effectively changing the subject.

"Where's this blacksmith, Sanae?" Miroku asked.

Sanae took a good look around, not smelling or seeing any smoke.

"This… this was the area I was told about, I don't understand."

"Have you ever considered maybe this isn't a _human_ blacksmith?" Inuyasha crossed his arms again.

The female kitsune looked to him and then looked away, feeling rather stupid.

"I suppose it could be a local _demon_."

"Wonderful," Kagome sighed, not sounding the least bit thrilled.

"We still have daylight. We'll split up and search the surrounding areas for smokestacks," Miroku devised.

The group agreed quietly, Kagome was to scout the western route, Shippo northwest, Miroku to the north, Sango northeast. Kilala would take the east, Inuyasha the southeast, and Sanae would handle the southern road. Each would turn back by dusk if they hadn't found anything. And if they hadn't, well there was only one remaining area, wasn't there? The group was banking on one of them finding the blacksmith's forge, reporting it back to the group, and then having the demonic half of the group make good use of their night vision and find the place.

Miroku made sleeping arrangements at the inn and they were off.

Sanae was at the edge of the village and came to a fork in the road when she shifted into a form that was closer to human. Her fox tails disappeared, her claws receded into nails, and her canine feet stretched into human ones. It wasn't long before a man with a broom came running towards her.

"Wait! Don't go any further!"

"Why not, _human_**?" **

"That route is far too dangerous, even for… what did you just call me? Aren't you—?"

The man got a better glimpse at Sanae's elf-like ears and gasped.

"No," she chuckled playfully, deciding to give up the masquerade early, "guess again."

"Y-you're a—a—" he stuttered.

His eyes widened as they shifted to Inuyasha, who had been walking a similar route and met at the fork.

"You're demons!"

"What of it?"

The man turned and ran without another word.

"Are they all like this in these parts?"

"I guess so."

Sanae kept going until she stumbled upon a freshwater spring, songbirds continuing to bathe and chirp as if she wasn't there. Inuyasha followed a little ways behind. This was probably where they were going to split up and explore their own areas. Sanae was hesitant of this as she started picking up the scent of wolf. Soon after she noticed Inuyasha sniffing the air, probably picking up the scent too now, she was silently relieved.

"Smell something?" as if she hadn't notice.

"It's Koga."

The scent was quickly getting stronger, meaning the wolf was getting closer. Sanae growled under her breath, this was just what they needed. Within no time, Koga had arrived in a whirling tornado.

"What are you doing here?"

"Now, is that the way to greet an old friend?"

Inuyasha still didn't look amused, so Koga tried again.

"Look what I found~"

* * *

_Author's Comment: I struggled with this quite a bit because this used to lead into a part where I made Koga out to be a total asshole. (I don't know what I had against him?) So this might get really derpy really fast. _

_Next update coming soon. _


End file.
